Category: Essays

This “diet” isn’t really a diet in the usual sense of the word. It is a diet in the proper sense of the word, though.

Diet-n. 1. The usual food and drink of a person or animal; daily sustenance.

This is what I mean when I say “diet”-what you normally eat, day in, day out. This essay is an attempt to show a way to diet.

This way to eat is simple, easy, saves your body and the environment. All of the people of the world have eaten like this for millennia. Most of the people still do!

Follow me through “the diet…”

Until the beginning of the 20th century, most peoples of the world ate simple foods, based primarily on farm crops. Meat was a luxury, used sparingly or only on special occasions. You ate hunted meat, and used farm animals for their products (e.g., milk and eggs) until they weren’t productive, then you ate them. A lot of preservation was done too-salting, pickling, smoking. Only in this century has this diet changed.

There are several reasons why this has happened. Refrigeration, large industrial farming, urbanization, mass production and distribution are some of the root causes.

Unfortunately, this new diet, heavy on highly refined foods, meat and dairy products, and canned goods has been the direct or indirect cause of many, many deaths. And it is spreading from the West to the rest of the world. And with it, heart disease, strokes, cancer, “modern” diseases, lifestyle diseases. While diet may not be the sole cause, it has a significant effect. A proper diet, combined with exercise, stress reduction and a healthy attitude, can reduce lifestyle diseases.

Diet is the first of three pillars. Physical fitness is the second of these pillars. The third, middle pillar is mental and spiritual fitness. Diet is the foundation.

Your body is made from the food you eat. Every single cell is built from what you put in your mouth, digest, and assimilate. Proteins are the building blocks of all cells, carbohydrates (sugars) are the energy to do work, fats are the energy storehouses, and vitamins and minerals are the catalysts and trace elements.

To be honest, where these nutrients come from makes very little difference, if they come in the proper form and correct balance.

Unfortunately, the “Western” diet has not provided this form and balance. Foods like beef, whole milk, french fries, ice cream for dessert-the basis of the “fast food” meal and the traditional “steak and potatoes” meal don’t provide this.

What they do provide is fat in double the amount you actually need, protein in one and one-half times the amount you actually need, carbohydrates in a form too easily absorbed (refined sugar), and vitamins, minerals, and bulk in less than half the amount you need.

The Western diet is out of balance. Of course, this begs the question-what is a balanced diet?

Current research has come up with the following formula-1/3 protein, 1/2 starches, 1/6 fat. Of course, these are approximate figures, but nonetheless form a start, a basis to judge a diet.

So, what’s the diet? It’s simple, but requires a fundamental change in outlook.

If you live in the West, you were brought up with a specific view of what foods are healthy and nutritious. You learned the four food groups (FFG).

Let’s think about the FFG for a second. Meat, dairy, grains, and fruits/vegetables. I said above that meat and dairy products are the basis of the Western diet, and are what is wrong with it. Half of FFG are made of these foods!

As a start, let’s remove meat and dairy from FFG. This leaves grains, and fruits/vegetables. Next, let’s split fruits and vegetables into two groups. This gets us grains, fruits and vegetables as the three food groups.

This is fine, except for one small problem. This diet would be incomplete. By this I mean that it wouldn’t provide complete servings of protein. This is because grains only provide about half of necessary protein.

To add the other half of necessary protein, legumes (beans) have to be added to the three food groups. This is good, because we now have four groups.

The groups are now grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables. This is the “diet”. Simple, isn’t it?

Now, let’s get down to the concrete elements of this diet. It’s fine to say, “the four food groups are grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables”. Let’s put some flesh on that sentence.

This diet is complete, but to a Western palate, boring. Fortunately, the entire universe of sauces, spices and preparation can be used to enliven the food (this includes fats, oils and sweetenings.) Most other cultures are happy with it, and you can be happy with it as well.

There are other considerations to keep in mind when choosing food. The aphorism “you are what you eat” can serve to point this out. Much of the food we eat comes from far away and is mass-produced. This needs to change. How do we go about this? One way is to keep in mind the following seven ideas about food: whole-unprocessed; fresh, natural, organically grown-not canned or frozen, free of additives; in season-our bodies should eat what suits the season; local-riper, more nutrients, seasonal; in harmony with tradition-what we’re attuned to; balanced-variety in flavors, colors, textures; delicious-a guide to what our bodies need.

UPDATE: The U.S. Government comes up with new dietary guidelines every five years. This time through (2004) has been more public than before, and marred by industry interference, especially from the sugar, dairy and cattle lobbies. In an attempt to make this diet a bit easier to quickly grasp, I have developed the following chart as a replacement for the food pyramid that is used now. I have adapted it, changed it into a circle, and added exercise as a key component surrounding the food circle. Since the big fad at the moment is “low carb” (losing popularity, rumor has it…), this circle is essentially opposite those recommendations. I won’t go too much into why low carb is bad other than to say that carbs are where you get your energy. Low carbs, low energy-you basically have to tap into non-carb resources for energy, which is wasteful and potentially dangerous, especially for those in bad health. There’s also a lot wrong with “going on a diet”-you need to change your diet permanently and increase exercise to permanently lose weight and keep it off, not to mention the health problems associated with dieting.

Here’s the chart-enjoy.

One of the things that’s been hot forever is supplementation. The problem with that is that it’s commonly used to prop up an insufficient diet. Having said that, there are some things you can add to your diet that might help things out a bit.

Pomegranates help, and are popular right now. Eat them straight, rather than juicing them.

As part of a total system of physical and spiritual development, a program to develop the mind must be included, as the mind controls the body in many respects. The mind (and emotions) are how sensations are interpreted and the facility that generates and controls actions. Thus, as the middle point between body and spirit, the mind must receive the same sort of development that the other parts do.
There are several activities and exercises that can help to develop the mind and emotional parts of a person.

Record and contemplate your thoughts and emotions. Keep a journal of them, reviewing each day and writing and thinking about it.

Record and contemplate your dreams in the same way. Write them down immediately upon waking.

Do a specific set of exercises upon waking and before sleep. For a summary, see the essay “A Yoga Routine”.

Read and think about selected passages from the great religious texts. Meditate, concentrate and contemplate on their meanings, the issues that they represent and what they mean to you.

Perceive your thoughts and emotions as you have them, but as a dispassionate observer. You also need to experience them fully as they appear and disappear. This is a dual task and there must be no conflict-each thought and emotion must be simultaneously experienced and observed.

Limit and control your emotions and thoughts. Damp the ferocity and impact of them as they appear in you. Let them dissipate without leaving a trace in your mind.

Begin to control your speech. Speak only when you have something important to say. Don’t impart unnecessary or useless information.

Take some time every day to still your thoughts.

Periodically review your actions and take stock of your “good” and “bad” actions.

These activities will give you control and allow you to begin to develop the more subtle sensations associated with spiritual perception.

Also helpful is this variant of the Buddhist “Eightfold Path”
Right:

· Thinking

Admit only significant ideas and thoughts. Learn gradually to separate the important from the unimportant, the real from the unreal, the eternal from the ephemeral, the true from the false. Listen to what people say with inner quietness, refraining from approving or disapproving judgment and from criticism. In this way one arrives at the habit of forming opinions that are not influenced by sympathy or antipathy.

· Intention

Cultivate steadfastness. Make resolutions only after full consideration of even the most insignificant points. Avoid thoughtless acts and meaningless ones. For every act have sufficient reasons. Do no needless thing. When convinced of the rightness of a resolve, abide by it unfalteringly.

· Speech

In speech with others, say only what has sense and meaning. Make your conversation thoughtful. Do not be afraid to be silent often. Try not to use too many or too few words. Never talk for the sake of talking, or merely to pass the time.

· Action

Make your actions as far as possible harmonious with your surroundings. Weigh all actions carefully so that the eternal may speak through them, so that they may be good for the whole and for the lasting welfare of others.

· Livelihood

In the management of life, seek to live in conformity with both nature and spirit. Be neither over-hasty nor idle. Look upon life as an opportunity for work and development, and live accordingly.

· Effort

Do not attempt what is beyond your powers, but also omit nothing for which they seem adequate. Set before yourself ideals which coincide with the highest ideals of a human being; for example, the aim of practicing such exercises as these in order to be able better to help and advise one’s fellow human beings, if not immediately, then later in life. One can also say that this exercise consists in making all these exercises into a habit of life.

· Mindfulness

Strive to learn as much as possible from life. All experiences have something to teach. When opportunity offers one should handle a situation more wisely than previously. Experience is a rich treasure, and one should consult it before doing anything. Watch the actions of others and compare them with the ideal – but lovingly, not critically. One can learn much from observing others, including children. Aim to remember all that one has learned in this way.

· Concentration

Each day, at the same time if possible, turn inward and take stock, test one’s way of life, run over one’s store of knowledge, ponder one’s duties, consider the aim and true purposes of life, reflect on one’s own imperfections and mistakes. In short, distinguish what is significant and of lasting value, and renew one’s resolve to take up worthwhile tasks.

· Knowledge

Learning from what the world is whispering to you in the stillness of your heart. Seeing things as they really are by direct experience. Discovering the truths written behind your perceptions of the external world.

· Enlightenment

Letting the work you have done before resound within you. Move in to the dark stillness withing to experience what cannot be experienced in the outer world. Rising to experience the spiritual worlds. Encountering your Holy Guardian Angel.

One of the most important parts of developing yourself is through exercise. Normally when we think about exercise, we think of physical exercise. This definition needs to be expanded in order to improve ourselves and by extension humanity.

I’ve said elsewhere that there are three great pillars of self-physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual. This essay deals with exercising the third pillar, the spiritual “body”. Note that the first two are foundations for the third-without a sound body, mind and heart, spiritual development is ineffective and possibly dangerous. Please take this warning to heart-if you overdevelop your spiritual abilities without having a sound body and psyche, you risk losing your way, possession, abusing your new abilities, insanity, etc.

Impatience often arises when these practices are first started. The spiritual realm is very subtle compared to the physical world, and sensations can be difficult to detect. I tend to look at it as if results were unimportant, and just do the practice for its own sake. That way the goal is irrelevant.

Also important to remember is that going too fast and far ahead can happen if you’re impatient. These exercises are meant to gradually increase in perceptual ability, so it’s crucial that the early exercises are mastered fully before the subsequent ones are attempted.

There are several beginning exercises that prepare the way for the more advanced ones-these are mostly for getting you into a state that allows the ones further along to be done properly.

Cultivating respect for all things is one of the first steps. The ability to still one’s thoughts is also important.

Pay attention to rocks, seeds, look for the inherent and potential in each.

Move to plants, lower and higher animals, crystals and humans, trying to find the potentiality and energy in each. This is extremely subtle and will manifest as colors or impressions. They aren’t really colors, but the perception and impression that arises in you is best described that way. They’re more like a feeling, or an emotion, or a sensation.

Look at humans in the throes of desire, before, during and after the desire is fulfilled. Look for intensity of thought and emotion.

Look at yourself for the manner in which your thoughts, feelings and desires manifest themselves in how you sense them.

Try to see them as separate from yourself and see what they do objectively.

Try to compress and expand time-pull the moments around now into and away from yourself.

Try to engage your perception during sleep and retain memory of that perception.

Some further exercises involve refining the way you perceive and interact with yourself and the external world

Thoughts-Take a simple object or figure and methodically connect with what can be connected to it.

Actions-Take a simple act not required in your daily life and do it every day. It’s best if the act is something that is part of an ongoing process (like taking care of a plant) but that is uninteresting in itself.

Feelings-Avoid extremes of feelings and moods. Recollect a mood that would normally be extreme, and bring it in with inner peace.

Positivity-Seek the good, ideal and beautiful in all things, even those not good, ideal or beautiful. Withhold criticism and judgment about the event-find a viewpoint that brings love and acceptance..

Openness-Meet every new experience with an open mind, without prejudice.

Humanity has changed with the spread of Western civilization. The primacy of mercantilism, the importance of material goods, has altered the relation of man to himself, to others and to the world around him. As man is descended from animals, he retains certain characteristics of animals, and primarily of those animals closest to him. To find out what man’s most “natural” state is, let’s look at the great apes and the lesser simians. Great apes, such as mountain gorillas, are essentially peaceful creatures, mostly concerned with food, grooming, reproduction and each other. Males show aggression but rarely harm one another. The great apes are plant eaters.

Christ is the New Testament image of a “saviour”. What is he saving? The bible never tells us exactly. Christian dogma says that he was saving all men from their sins.
This can be taken several ways. Is he saving all men from their individual sins? Is he saving just those men who accept him? Is he saving the sins of all mankind?
Sins are karmic burden. They can only be erased in two ways-by experiencing the backlash of the burden, or by removing them by good deeds.
Sins of one person can’t be assumed or erased by another. If this is true, then the sins assumed by Christ are not of one person, but of many. This could be analogous to what happened in the Flood, where God decided to start over.
Several questions begin to arise if this is the case. Why did this global burden of sin need to be lifted? Is there some connection between the 2000 year cycle and the lifting of “national” karma? Does it have something to do with the quality of energy that manifests itself in each eon? How is this absolution of sin accomplished? Did the descent into hell and the ascent into heaven symbolize the transfer of that bad karma into higher energy required in the next cycle? What does this all mean now? How does the last 2000 years of bad karma get erased and who will erase it now?
Lots of questions to think about…Let’s start with the why questions. This national karma must be associated with some part of the changing cycles of man, if it needs to be released every time around. If the flood was one time, and the crucifixion another, then this may be the case. Why is this?
If we look at the particular focus of each era, we can see a changing emphasis of each cycle. This emphasis is based on the refinement and focusing of man’s energy. If the collective actions of men during each cycle result in this national karma, the karma is floating above a particular emphasis and energy level. For man to move to the next level, the remaining karma of the last one must be raised as well.
Now we need to find out how this release is accomplished. Let’s review Christ’s life and see if it contains any insights into how the release is done.
Born as an avatar with auspicious signs and physical characteristics. A persecution at his birth and a flight to safety. A youth and adolescence of spiritual education. A deliverance and anoiting. A physical/spiritual journey, temptation and transcendence of temptation. A ministry, teaching others what was learned. Defiance of authority and persecution. Foreknowledge and planning of specific events. A planned betrayal. A drumhead trial. A public humiliation. A painful death. A spiritual journey paralleling the physical journey. Transcendence and liberation.
How do we interpret these events in the light of releasing national karma? Here is what I think. The process to release the karma is for one person to act as a lens through which all the karma can focus and be transformed. The first step in this process is becoming enlightened by perfecting the self. Then realizing how to attract all the karma to oneself and taking it up to a higher level. This is done by moving to the lowest possible energy level and picking up all energy, then by rising up and taking the energy along.
This is a major undertaking, and fraught with the most dangerous perils. The quantity of national karma accumulated in the last 2000 years is immense, but its release is necessary to the continued progress of humanity.

Chakras are special points along our spine. They come from Indian spiritual belief. They represent foci of specific types of energy. There are 7 chakras, distributed from the bottom of the spine to above the head. Each one has a specific color, name, location and series of attributes. They are commonly represented as lotus blossoms, with a specific number of petals corresponding to the various attributes and each one with a specific sound. What are these chakras? Why are they located in specific positions? Why do they have all these attributes associated with them? Let’s see if I can clarify and answer some of these questions. The highest chakra, sahasrara, with 1000 petals is located above the head. This chakra is the most complicated with the highest energy level. It is the pinnacle of the chakras. This chakra must be the one that acts as the original source of energy that supplies the other, lower chakras. Where does this energy come from? As the chakra is above our heads, the energy must come from above our physical being. This chakra must act as a conduit to higher energy states. Some parallel concepts include the ‘clear white light’ of the Tibetans, Alice Bailey’s “Ray of Creation”, etc. This energy radiates downward, illuminating all of existence and the spiritual body. The other chakras have some relation to this highest chakra. Each chakra has a quality associated with it, a color, a sound, a number of petals and a series of positive and negative attributes associated with petal. As the chakras go down the spine, their attributes and qualities become less refined, from spiritual sight to speech to emotion to digestion to reproduction to elimination. This shows that some quality of the original energy has become less refined at each step. It seems that each chakra is a point at which energy resonates and some of that energy is lost. Thus, by the time that the bottom is reached, the grossest energy is the only energy that remains. Therefore, a chakra can be defined as a point of resonance from an unlimited energy source located above the head, where specific qualities and energies are focused and dissipated throughout the body. The lotus petals signify the resonance quality and amount. This concept has similarities to harmonics in a vibrating string. The chakras can be laid out as a harmonic progression. As the source is reached, the harmonics get closer together. The secret chakras and realms that exist as the thousand petal lotus is approached show this.

If we postulate that the goal of life is to reduce entropy, there must be some manner in which this entropy lessening/energy increasing action to manifest itself. To see this energy increase, a graph is an appropriate tool.
An exponential graph which represents a function moving from maximum entropy to minimum entropy, or minimum organization to maximum organization, seems to be an effective image.
The metaphor of an exponential graph can be extended to non-physical ideas and energy states as well. It represents progress building upon progress in an increasing manner.
Let’s look at evolution. Life starts off as a sub microscopic chain of atoms. It continues to aggregate and increase in complexity. This process continues at an ever increasing rate. First molecules, then chains of molecules, then aggregates of molecules, then cells, then simple multicellular water-borne creatures, then plants, then fish, then crawling, walking, running, flying animals, then intelligent animals, then language & tool making creatures, then the whole of human history. So, what’s next? We are poised at the end of an exponential curve…
There are other interesting applications of this metaphor. The fact that the curve goes from 0 to infinity suggests extremes or a dualistic nature. The x and y axes are asymptotes of an unattainable goal. The area under the curve can be viewed as a normal probability distribution. Everything that is comprehensible to us, or that can bear life is contained within the 1st or 2nd variance.
The Kabalah represents this by a concept known as the tree of life. If we look at the top and the bottom of tree, there are realms outside of these items. These realms can be thought of as the asymptotes of an exponential curve of existence. We could look at those items at the top and bottom of the tree as containing the other realms outside of the tree. If this is so, the items will contain a tree of life that represents the outer realms. If you extend the analogy, each of these trees of life will contain trees of life and so on to infinity.
The solution to proper release/transfer of chakras is a hyperbola. Integrating the two concepts leaves Tiphareth as the balance point, giving both ways as possible, but at 45° or 225°. They both have returns, 225° has a lower energy return, less efficient (total is return time). As you hang on the balance of either/both, it turns into Tiphareth. This is why JC is seen as going to heaven & hell first. He had to reconcile one to the other. What happened is that he took all the negative agglomerate karma, pulled it down then up. This was the measure of the whirlwind pulled down, reconciled, then pulled up (also why he said what he did…) The key to pulling off the hyperbolic chakras is Tiphareth. This chakra has to be immaculate-giving birth to the JC pictures of a flaming heart. This chakra acts as the primary resonance point and needs perfect equilibrium. To clear a transfer-a router or lens, basically. The method of entry to chakra rotation is expand, test clarity of rotation. What is crucial is testing resonance in 5 & 6 and settling that resonance. This is a crucial chakra, being the prime harmonic, and requires careful control.
What I’m working on now is mediation of lowest with highest. As is appropriate, the heart chakra is the key, as it’s the first octave. The idea is to smooth it out to achieve proper energy transfer. As the energy curve is a hyperbola, negative to positive infinity, it stands in the middle, the abyss, and the choice between left and right paths.
This energy curve at each of its ends, also turns around and begins again. This is the essence of the left\right choice. Do you jump the abyss or follow down the curve-one of the next spiral points aligned 90 degrees to the abyss? This continues to fractal levels, and meets up at THAT infinity. That way is longer, but less energy consuming.
To tie physical reality to non-physical requires postulating multi-dimensional strings that make up our reality. Since we can only directly perceive 3 dimensions and infer 1 more, the rest HAVE to be non-physical. It’s difficult to register just because of that. 10 dimensions of infinite reality, each more subtle than the last. We can’t get to them except through high energy (close to infinite levels) and psychic means. Psychic means are an exercise in focusing consciousness, as our brains are wired for creating a psychic net or antenna, with a spine for mediating energy transfer, lowest to highest and vice versa.
Maybe the best way to measure it is to simulate that net in structure and partial function, focusing on receiving antennas, processing and energy mediation. We act as both broadcasters and receivers, shaping both physical and non-physical reality. Since direct contact is our infinity, it’s tough to sense. That’s the effect described in the Bardo, and applies to all thing, both in death and on a macro scale, and at each point in the 10 D progression. It’s also analogous to the Kabbalastic Tree of Life, with each Sephira as another infinity, both in itself as a progression and as a shorthand for the 10 D string. The infinity falls off to either resume the current one or take the next upper round in the quantum state. You’re trying to jump one ring down the string’s scale, and since that determines what reality you exist in, it’s hard to do. You either spend a lot of energy or act as the infinity itself, since that’s how you got there and that’s what it is.
There are also some interesting corollaries to this theory. Since 10D strings encompass infinity at each step, all infinities have 10 degrees of freedom and infinity. Since we can only see 3 and conceive 4, the rest are alternate paths for the 4 dimensions we can see. These paths are quantum differences, and we can only see the most probable. The rest are still around, but we’re unable to perceive them. You could see them at the next level up, as clouds of possible realities-much like physicists visualize energy shells in atoms
This is why our perception is so closely focused-all those infinities would be utterly confusing and overload us. We would see all things, all at once.
Assemblage points come into this. If you shift your assemblage point, another set of realities would be visible.
First principles of modern physics-proving my intuitions mathematically
Multiple infinities-classes-all infinities are equal-therefore we are all one.
visualizing 4+ dimensions
Go up to 6th chakra and back down until it’s rock solid stable
visualizing my multiple realities (all my lives then in all possible alternates, then others, then all things)
non-monetary accounting acting as a lens Synthesis of hindu/kabbalah/physics
Postulate that we live in 10 dimensions (actually infinity). Each dimension is a level on the tree of life, and a chakra point. We exist and perceive in the middle set of dimensions, as it’s also a normal distribution of energy from positive to negative infinity. The lowest 3 are below our reality, it’s a broken infinity, as absolute negative infinity is the same as positive infinity. The next 3 are physis-normal matter. The next 3 are mensis/tempis-thought and time. The top is a broken triad-again infinity. The transitions between triads are abysses, as different triads require different attentions. You have to jump the abyss & shift assemblage points.
positive infinity, 5 sigmas, Godhead, spirit, Ain soph aur
4 sigmas, Archangelic, Ain soph
3 sigmas, Angelic, Crown chakra, fire, ain, transfinite
-Great abyss, kether
2 sigmas, Astral, eye chakra, 2&3 sephira, union/light, 3d of time
1 sigma, Mental, throat chakra, 4&5 sephira, breath/speech, 2d of time
great mean, Minor abyss, heart chakra, Tiphareth, air, time
-1 sigma, Emotional, stomach chakra, 7&8 sephira, space
-2 sigma, physical, genital chakra, 9 sephira, plane
-3 sigma, anal chakra, 10 sephira, water, line
-Lower abyss
-4 sigmas, qlippoth, knees, point
negative infinity, -5 sigmas, feet/earth

The asymptote as a fundamental image of progress is an apt metaphor. It can be applied to many things, including spiritual thought. If we look at the asymptote as a way of representing increased energy levels or spiritual refinement, several interesting corollaries occur. If we are looking at increases of energy Kundalini most readily comes to mind. Associated with Kundalini is the chakras. If we look at the asymptote as a representation of Kundalini energy, the chakras are waypoints of specific energy states, energy quantum levels. Progress in achieving higher spiritual levels is measured by the chakra level. So what happens when you reach the end of the curve? You have achieved oneness with positive infinity. Because all infinities are equal, this leads you to the negative infinity on the next higher energy state. This is a spiral effect. Basically, you rise to the next plane of existence, to start the rise to positive infinity again. Another useful application of the asymptote metaphor is the general spiritual progress of mankind. The metaphor can be applied to the Great Ages of mankind concept, much as it was used in the chakras. Each succeeding great age can be seen as a chakra. Increases in population can be seen as one effect of the exponential curve. Increases in spiritual refinement and “spiritual density”, i.e. higher levels of mind use also follow the curve. This also implies a more or less continual increase, with the chakra points as spiritual turning points in the age sequence, analogous to millennia. Another use of the asymptote idea is in the classifying of the axes. Any convenient dualistic concept, such as good/evil, coarse/fine, ignorance/knowledge, nothing/everything, yin/yang, etc., can be represented on the axes. Here, I am trying to represent spiritual ideas, with the energy spiral and the “folding” of asymptotes as a progression of opposites reconciling then splitting apart at a higher level. To reach the reconciliation, one must travel along the curve to the zenith or apex at the relevant axis. So what does this all mean? Let’s try to find out where we are on the curve for the great ages concept. As a population graph, we are fairly high on the curve and climbing rapidly. On a spiritual level, density is changing, mainly due to the increased number of people in existence. In a more realistic sense, the increase in esoteric writings and teachings reaching publication and the quality of spiritual ideas suggests an increase from the levels of the past, but not a steep increase. There is also a corollary increase of evil, violence and materialism. These trends may have something to do with a certain level of advancement. There is a point on the asymptote where the axes are in perfect balance. This is the point of equidistance from both axes. There is a tension here between the two concepts on the axes. From another perspective, this is the place where the force needed to cross over to the other axis equally balances the force pulling from the original axis. An appropriate concept would be an abyss-a difficult place that must be crossed to continue to the other side. This balance can be seen in the reaction to new ideas- a wish for the ideas to disappear and the older ideas to predominate, in the difficulty to concentrate amid the clamor of new things. On the balance there is an equal concentration of both axes attributes, and a corresponding difficulty in expressing increases in spiritual feelings that would affect the jump across the abyss. To tip the balance, a special effort needs to be made, to impress spirit.

On a personal level, the quest for spiritual progress takes many forms. That there are many paths up the mountain of spirit is a common but apt metaphor. The goal of all spiritual work is to reach spiritual purity. Along with spiritual purity comes the ability to inhabit spiritual space. How is this goal accomplished? As I’ve said, there are many ways to reach the goal, but there are some landmarks that may be used to judge progress towards the goal. There is an essential link between physical and spiritual (non-physical) existence. Spiritual existence is much finer and subtler, requiring refinement of senses and discipline to inhabit it consciously. Several basic mechanisms and exercises train the beginner to develop these subtle senses. Quieting and controlling thought and emotion, focusing attention and thought, and opening up to sensations are basic first steps. The first step is the act of taking these exercises up as habit. The next step concerns gaining further ability in quieting thought, controlling thought and emotion, focusing attention and perceiving spiritual essence. After time spent trying to perceive feelings from other objects with increasing levels of life, from plants to animals to humans, the actual perception of spiritual existence becomes apparent. You perceive your own thoughts, the thoughts of others and non-physical beings in spiritual space. This perceptual ability is the second goal. With continued work, these perceptions become sharper and more controlled. The next step is to begin to inhabit spiritual space.